Ramping Up

Starting back into the training after a summer of goalless running. Weight is still down and pace is up despite running not more than 2x per week. Going to ease into it this fall so as not to repeat last years over training injuries. Ran 4.5 today at 8:31 (PR for the route). I'm getting much better at maintaining an even pace during the runs. Each split today was +/- 1 second. Not bad!

Part of the new plan is to work in riding on the weekends to help reduce the pounding on the legs. I've been going for 20+ mile rides on the new bike on the weekend. Rides are good for the legs (less pounding), good for the lungs (hills are brutal) but bad on time as it takes longer to get a good workout in. As an aside, I'm selling my old road bike (below). Let me know if there's anyone you know who might be interested.

2001 Trek 2200 56cm
Shimano 105 Components
Shimano Flight Deck Computer
Aluminium Frame / Carbon Forks

Winding Down

Ran from my apartment to Columbus Circle last night, then took the subway home. The run was 26:26. It is warm in NYC, mildly humid. I really stank up the train. Que sera, sera.

Hale Reservation Triathlon

I did my second triathlon yesterday, Sunday 13 September, 2009. It was a blast. The swim felt longer, my run was significantly slower than last year (something in the neighborhood of 42 seconds/mile!) but I still managed to finish in the top third, even if I did drop off of the first page of results -- though this year I am tops on the second page of results at 51 out of 157. Here's the breakdown of the race.

SWIM
I got stuck behind a couple of wide-body clydesdales right off the start. I couldn't go around them because there were a couple of other dudes to my left and right. I ended up stopping an treading every few strokes just looking for space. I eventually did get around them but the damage was done. The adrenaline was my enemy, I got mildly nervous and panicky and ended up breast stroking pretty much the whole thing. thought I did pass guys even swimming breast stroke I lost at least a minute or more in the opening 150 yards trying to get around those guys (9:59 -- ugh! yet everyone felt like it was longer this year). I did OK on the transitions, sub-2 minutes, but need to work on those (1:54)

BIKE
Bike is what I think is my weakest -- especially mountain biking with clip-in pedals. When I was younger I used to just go out and ride and didn't worry too much about anything. Now I'm a bit more cautious though adrenaline on my bike was my friend. The ride was fairly punishing, and fairly tricky but very fun. There was a monster climb in the first mile or so that I rode the first time I rode it, but walked it during the training and the race. People were dropping off left and right and it made it hard to navigate (those clip-in pedals make me uncomfortable at low speeds). So I hopped off half way up and ran it up the hill hopped back on, rode one more crest then hammered it down the backside back into the woods (it was asphalt actually in this part). The eventual women's winner powered by -- 50, fit, and driven -- up the steep. I was jealous. The rest of the ride was largely uneventful -- I got stuck in a line of guys, one in particular and along the single track portions I just followed. I rode things yesterday that I'd walked or fallen off in training and stayed on the bike generally better. There were other climbs where guys were coming off the bike so I came off the bike too -- it's a chain reaction on rocky treacherous pieces. I ran the bike up each of those sections though and got back on as quick as I could. There was one sick rock garden that I had walked both training runs, but sort of half rode half walked yesterday -- I made up some time there. Generally I attacked and had fun and see the bike as a place where I can get significantly better. Running CV totally helps biking and I find it easier to recover on the bike. I ride a 20 year old hard tail, hard fork Trek and I did OK: 5.3 miles 34:50, 9.5 MPH. I did a 1:24 transition out of bike shoes into running shoes. Actually moderately happy with that. Oh, and it was muddy and mucky in many parts of the track and that made it super fun.

RUN
The run was solid for me. I pushed it hard on the bike and took a bit longer to come back on the run. The eventually second lace woman passed me in the transition. I stuck with her for the first little bit,up a nasty climb and then she started to pull away. I kept in her sight the entire run but could not catch her. I walked one little stretch, about 5 paces to collect myself, then started to reel back her in, though I never lost sight of her. I started sort of slow and that transition, from bike to run, not just the legs, but the breathing even is very tricky. I think though that I was negative splitting, because I was reeling her in and closing the gap over the last half of the course. I was also passing some other guys as well so that was good. About 150 yards from the finish, on basically one of the smoothest, easiest stretches of the run I stepped on something, I don't even know what, and tweaked my left ankle. It hurt but I powered on, and finished with a nice kick. It was ironic because I was running over rocks and rots and up and down rock and rot strewn climbs and hopping off of some rocks and I tweak myself on the most mellow part of the course. the ankle is a bit tender today, but nothing catastrophic. So, the race details said 2.3 for the run but people in the field said that it was 2.5, I don't know who to believe on this but if it was 2.3 then the race clocking at 20:39 and 8:59/mile is my time. If it was 2.5 then I ran a bit better than that at about 8:15-16/mile. Not sure which, I have no real way to judge it. Eight fifteens though are better than 8:59s.... I don't totally remember last year's course but there was a section I walked briefly last year that we didn't run this year, and in that section it cut a chunk of the race off that we had to cover this year (with one more nasty climb), so I do actually think that we ran further which would make sense to me.

FINAL THOUGHTS
I'm not as fit this year as last but I got better on the bike and about the same on the run if it indeed was 2.5 miles. I was happy with the negative splits on the run though (or what seemed like negative splits). Swim was tricky. I didn't freestlye-swim as much this year, and I'm not sure why. I need to work more on my swim (though I feel like I did this year and it didn't help me). Anyway, it was a blast, and totally amped me up for the whole day. Fun, fun, fun!

10 Miler

Well, 9.4 miles anyway, according to MapMyRun. I started at Columbus Circle and headed onto the Park Drive with traffic, counter-clockwise. After about 3.5 miles I approached my apartment and took a pit stop for water, the bathroom, and to drop off my cap, into which I was sweating heavily as it prevented my body from ventilating. I got back out on the Park Drive after about 10 minutes and had a rough 4 miles, slowing to a crawl at some points just to keep moving. But the last two miles were inspired. I found a guy running just a short distance ahead and stayed with him from the Met back to the Great Hill, where I turned for home. It was a real grind of a workout -- start to finish, with pit stop and crawling, nearly two hours end-to-end. Nipples are raw. (Agricola, I picked up some BodyGlide for the race.) I'm feeling fairly well worn this morning but pretty confident about next Sunday.

Given the flat course for the first eight miles, I am aiming to maintain a steady 10 minute mile pace for that distance to keep some gas in the tank for the long climbs and sharp drops in the last 5 miles.

I am planning to run 35 to 45 minutes on Tuesday and Thursday this week, then sit tight for the race. More later.

Run To Remember

I know I've said this a million times: we ran the Brooklyn Promenade about 30 minutes before the planes hit the towers. The attacks were underway as we ran. The day was crystalline. I've run every September 11 since that day with one exception when I was sick. I headed out today, late afternoon, in a drizzle. I did 3.3 miles. I don't know how fast.

I run in honor of the dead and hope to honor them thusly as long as I can.

I say this each year, more or less. It does not change for me. It is immutable. September 11 is a major motivator of my running. I'm sure there is some crazy psychological thing tied up with this but I feel that as long as I run I honor the memory of all of those who died.

Tri, Trails & Steak

Last weekend we were at a family wedding outside of Portsmouth, NH. My brother and his family were in town. The day after the wedding he and I went for a brief -- 25 minutes, I think -- trot through Newcastle, NH. It was lovely, rolling and scenic. Frequent ocean views to our right on the way out and a nice little turn around down by Portsmouth harbor with a view of an old fort. The weather was beautiful and it was great to run with my brother. We also saw a couple of deer in somebody's yard (I saw one on last week's trail run, at the edge of an orchard and the woods).

Sunday I didn't do much except eat a massive meal at Capital Grill. My brother and I headed out Labor Day afternoon and took a rocking trail run through the Fells Reservation in Winchester/Medford. It ended up being more than I'd bargained for (see massive meal, Capital Grill, Sunday night) at about an hour of up and down, side stepping and root hopping. The air though was gorgeous piney and clean. We ran around the Winchester water supply and the presence of basically a mountain lake was really amazing. It was a butt kicker of a run, but I'm better for it. Again, it was awesome to run with my brother who is really a gazelle.

Wednesday night I did a full run through of the tri that I'm doing this weekend. It was fun even though I had a splitting migraine during the day and I sort of felt like I was in slow-mo all along the course. The swim went pretty well, but it felt longer and I felt slower than the advertised 400 yards. I was more comfortable on the mountain bike last night and found some lines that I'd not see the first ride last week that I hope will help Sunday. It's a fairly punishing ride at 5.3 miles with some big climbs and some tricky descents. The run went well once the leg wobble stopped. I just shifted into an easy lope through the woods and felt good throughout. I'm looking forward to Sunday, and am going to have the family come out and watch. It should be around an hour, perhaps more -- the swim is longer, I think... -- and it's supposed to be a beauty of a day.

Don't Run After Pizza

I had two slices of pizza tonight around 5:30. When I got out for my run at about 7:45, I started out hard and the agida quickly shut me down. I thought I was gonna die. SUCKING wind. So I slowed to a walk for a few blocks and started up again at a more moderate pace and headed out towards the resevoir and looped it. I was back at the apartment in about 31 minutes, which is not bad. When I hit the resevoir track I felt that I needed a pacer, so fell in behind a couple out having a social run, chatting away, and stayed with them until about 3/4ers 'round, then pulled ahead and that was that. Heading to the shower now. 10 mile run in the plan for Saturday.

8 Mile Run

I got out for eight miles today. Mrs. FA drove me 8 miles from the house and dropped me off. It was a very pretty run, on a plateau high above the lake, with wonderful views for most of the first five miles. I had to walk up the four brutal hills, but I completed the course in a shade longer than 80 minutes, so maintained, on average, my comfortable race pace. I was happy about that.

One downer, as I crossed in front of my neighbor's yard, a wasp hopped out of the grass and stung me, right through my sock. I used profanity. It was an inauspicious end to an otherwise encouraging run.

Less than two weeks to the big race. I'm feeling particularly fit. Since last Sunday, I've biked 26 miles, run 18 miles, rowed steadily for three hours, and mowed the lawn. Hoo-ah.

Peace, fellas.

Two New Runs, and Some Rowing

Had a GREAT run in Central Park on Wednesday and a so-so run on the Crown Point Peninsula on Friday evening. So-so, mainly I think b/c I'd had two cups of coffee and two beers and nothing else to drink all day, and felt the dehydration as I ran, in the sun to boot. I had some unexpected cross training this afternoon, rowing around Lake Eaton fishing with my cousin for about 3 hours. The upper body feels comfrotably fatigued. Planning to act like a slug tomorrow with a long run in the pipeline for Labor Day.

CCM - I am in...

Howdy all,

Very little running. Just P90xing it and some golf. Good summer, but now headed to winter school opening. Love to catch up soon and get a run in or two Agricola.

Hope everyone had a good summer.

Plugging Away

Gents. So the ADK 1/2 is just over two weeks away. I've been plugging away at my weekday training runs, and started feeling some of the work pay off in the last week. The longer weekend runs have been uneven and therefore not encouraging. I am aiming to go for 10 this weekend (Labor Day) and am strongly considering an out and back on the last five miles of the race course. (VTR, that would mean I park where we started out on the bikes last weekend, run the last five miles of the course backwards, then turn around and run the last five miles again, just as I'll experience them during the race.) I feel very calm about the race, though I'm not confident of a steady, consistent performance. My goals are to 1) finish; 2) finish without hurting myself; 3) stay in motion the whole distance; 4) experience the ADKs in a new way. The last is not insignificant, I am looking forward to participating in an ADK event.

I had a beaut of a run in the Park on Monday evening. The weather was dynamite, clear temps in the 70s and breezy. LOTS of runners were out there, soaking it up.

And THANK YOU to VTR for driving through the Valley to join me for a reconnoiter of the ADK half marathon course. The full course would make this marathon a significant accomplishment for any runner, I think. There were hills after hills in the first 1/2, and I was sucking wind on the bike after the first few. The second half of the course (the 1/2 marathon portion) is flat for the first 8 miles, then mildly hilly. It runs right along the lake for about the first six miles, too. It is doable, I think, and VTRs positive attitude and learned recommendations were super encouraging.

Running tonight and Friday before the long weekend run. Will update again then.

Peace, fellas.

Ride on

I forgot to mention that I did a 26.2 mile bike ride around Schroon Lake on Saturday with FreeArtist. He'll be doing a half marathon on that route later this month. I rode to get some exercise and check out the course. After riding with him, I predict he will crush it.

It felt good to go for a spin. Got a flat (two actually, but one was user error) with 7 miles to go and had fun changing the tire. I'll steal FreeArtist's thunder here a bit and say that gadgets are fun. We both had these little CO2 cartridge recharger/pumps which were very cool once figured out. I spent my cartridge by almost popping my tube (no auto-shutoff on the sucker). Luckily FA had an extra tube and cartridge, so we were back on track in no time.

Anyway, beautiful ride and fun to catch up with FA and (briefly) the FA family.

Later boys.

Trail Run

Took a big trail run today right around lunch time. I'd planned on a doing an out and back into the woods but ended up continuing on. I ran through woods and along the Charles River. I ran through some cool marsh land on raised boardwalks. It was fun and tough and fairly solitary although I did see a handful of other trail runners.

By and large the trail was really temded, not many rocks sticking out nor roots, though there were some rugged sections. I had fun and am feeling the flow. Not sure how long it was, but I think I ran for close to an hour. The transition from the trails to the streets was weird and I walked a bit after I came out of the woods but finished with two good climbs to my street (the ones at the end of my ypical 10K route).

Oh yeah, and the weather was gorgeous! Sunny, dry and 67 F. Perfect.

3 miles

Slowly, stiffly, running like on tree stumps.
Achy, lamely, the wonder of the run.
(For some strange reason, I started this post with the Phantom of the Opera in my head. Re-read my first two lines to that tune for fun. I'm tired today.)

Anyway, 3 miles at around 2:00 today. I was completely unproductive and had to get some energy to salvage the day. It worked, although the run was nothing to write home about.

Coupla Weeks

Well, I've been quietly sort of running over the past couple of weeks. The week after Falmouth was a bust despite my motivation -- lots of work to do from the cape and not much rhythm. I got in one swim but it wasn't much to write home about. I may have done a short run, but I honestly don't remember. I returned from the Cape and went to tri training session the following week. I mis-read the schedule and brought my sneakers when I should have brought my bike... I swam and went for a short run, somewhere in the neighborhood of 25-30 minutes. It was super humid and the black flies were assaulting my head.

I got in one more run that week but don't remember which route I did, it may have been a shorty. Can you see that I'm really into it right now?

Last week I did the tri training, swim/run and one more run, a short one. I just got back from tri training and did a swim and bike ride. I'm awful on the mountain bike when I ride it like 4 times each year. I need to get in another ride or so to get comfortable on the clipless pedals. The swim was fine, i wasn't super motivated, but did it. The ride was fun despite not being 100% comfortable. I went slow and gabbed with a fire fighter from Cambridge. There is a full run through a week from Wednesday.

I'm rediscovering that I really love the running etc., more than drinking and that it makes me feel better than drinking... right now I'm a drinker with a running problem more than a runner with a drinking problem. I think I'm going tomorrow for a run. I like how it makes me feel, and though one wouldn't think so, I need to keep reminding myself about how much I like the exertion.

One bit of business that's going undone: I have an entry form for the CCM Relay. Who's in? I want to fill it out tomorrow even though it's going to cost more because it will be in after 9/1. Also, psyched to hear VTR is considering VCM '10. I've been thinking about it and I'm in. I need to run it.

Dipping my toe in

Here are a few thoughts from my first run in a long time:
- Alternate post titles considered as I neared the end of my run -- Wow; Ouch; Weak; Tight; Interesting...
- Aches and pains are way better when caused by over-exertion than by complete and total inactivity
- Had the thought that I'd run Burlington next year. I like/need a running goal. Still noodling that one a bit.
- The blog is tough to follow when you can't log on at work. Not that I'm a total slacker at work, but you know....

Later boys.

Losing Count

I haven't been counting runs, as is my habit. But I had a good Central Park Reservoir run this week, on a very hot and humid Tuesday evening. Didn't think I could sweat so much. I broke down and did the unthinkable, removing my shirt and running in the park, topless. I pity my fellow runners who had to watch, but I was considerably more comfortable.

I brought my sneakers ro Lexington, KY for a Wednesday/Thursday business trip, aiming to run Thursday morning. Alas, I drank too much bourbon Wednesday night and slept in Thursday. I only roused myself to shower and dress in time for a breakfast meeting. It was super humid there, too.

Aiming for a 7 miler today in the Champlain Valley. Will post.

Peace, fellas.

Humidity is a Bee-atch

So here's what I've been doing:

Mrs. FA and I got down to Bermuda last Sunday for a few days alone. We got out for a run on Tuesday morning. The humidity was impressive, so we didn't go far. Spend the rest of the day kayaking and snorkeling and so redeemed the short run. We spend three very active days down there eating fish and drinking dark rum, so it was a worthwhile getaway and overall healthy interlude, but for the rum.

Friday, I ran the hilly uptown loop of the Park on another humid day in NYC.

Today in the steaming Champlain Valley I set out from church and planned to run to the lake, a distance of about 6 miles. I stopped around mile 4.5 with painful blisters in my heels. I was wearing very low cut socks, and the tops of my shoes wore down the skin on my lower achilles. I stopped, took off the shoes, walked the mile to the house, found a better pair of socks, and finished the run. When I arrived, I probably spent 45 minutes sitting still in the lake, cooling down. It is about 89 degrees up here, and humid.

Happy to hear of Agricola's solid time at Falmouth.

Peace, fellas.

Falmouth Road Race 2009

S0, yesterday was my 6th Falmouth Road Race, and true to form -- a mediocre year (2008) followed by a decent year (2009) -- I had a pretty good run yesterday. I covered the course in 58:06 which is a time I can live with -- it was 1:20 faster than 2008 and about 56 seconds slower than 2007 (57:10). I think that it should keep me in the blue corral/second flight next year. We'll see.

I was happy with the run because I feel like I ran a good race. I eased into the first mile and let the crowd carry me along, and I also just ran with it, not burning energy to pass. The first three miles seemed to go by very quickly and I felt good coming into the beach portion of the run. As it does through that section the sun sucked the life out of me a bit and I worked hard to mile four. Things got better at 5 but five to six was a grind and I felt my pace slacken a bit. However, once I hit 10K my legs came back a bit and I got a second wind for the final two climbs. It was not my fastest up the final steep climb, but I powered through it and took momentum over the top and had a nice kick for the last three hundred yards or so and I crossed the finish line in full stride.

The post race feeling was great, I recovered well, and have only tiniest bit of soreness right now -- I could go out and run today, and may. I'm definitely going for a swim. My goal is to always go sub-60-minutes at Falmouth and I feel good about yesterday's run. As I knew it would it's pumped me up for the rest of the summer. The weather was warm/hot, but low humidity which was a blessing. Some of the splits I remember: 17:11 for the first two miles (with a 9:09 for mile 1 I think). Five K to 10K are sort of a blur, I think I came across the 10K at 52 and closed it out the last .8 in 6 minutes or so. It was fun and it's amazing what a difference a minute can make!

I did a 10K training run on Friday, that I neglected to post about, but those two 10Ks helped immeasurably and if I'd gotten in one more I would have been even stronger.

Phew!

I went out for 10K today in preparation for Falmouth on Sunday. I'm on a bit of a crash course training right now but it's OK. The run felt pretty good despite that fact that I think the inside of a rice cooker is less humid than the air right now. I'll try and do one more either tomorrow or Friday. It was tough to breathe but it was good to get out and move.

I'm looking forward to Sunday, I actually feel more prepared this year than the last though not sure why -- it might be mental at this point more than physical but last year I was empty and this year, right now, I'm not. Either way, I'm just running to run and keep up a tradition of running this race until I have a collection of at least 12 coffee cups (it's the yearly race gift). I'm going to run, enjoy it and not stress about time -- the goal, as always, is to run under 60 for 7 miles. We'll see where I net out.